An elf... Reid instinctively reached for his ears and found they were very pointed.

He scoffed at Atronia, bluntly saying, "Why are you reacting like that? I'm sure my questions are perfectly normal."

It was an unconscious reaction.

She smiled apologetically. "I apologize. It's hard to shake off my preconceptions about elves."

"But I'm not— ah? Does a person’s nature affect how souls from other worlds are summoned?" Reid arched his eyebrows.

She wouldn't have reacted this way if it didn't.

"Yes," Atronia nodded gently. "Their natures must be compatible. If they aren’t, most would go insane and die instantly, or turn into mindless monsters."

Reid subconsciously envisioned bizarre mutated creatures in his head, shuddering faintly.

"...What about their souls at that point?" he asked.

"They won't be at peace, certainly," Atronia responded calmly. "but we were very careful and thorough in selecting the people who were sacrificed. We'll liberate your soul immediately should the worst happens. I apologize if that doesn’t put you at ease."

Reid was momentarily unable to give a response.

So it's simply a lucky for me to get to talk like this. He felt a bit hollow at the thought.

"You still haven’t answered my question,” he regained his calm quickly. “Why am I called here specifically? What is the matter that this world has to force you people to call souls from another world? And why specifically us?”

Whatever the answer, he had abandoned the decision to die by their hands.

Reid didn’t think he was particularly attached to life, specifically under desperate circumstances, but he definitely hated the idea of dying without trying to avoid it.

Even after being told he was alive again—in a way, at least—he still believed death was the end of all possibilities. The current circumstances are simply in his favor. What if he hadn’t been called? The unknown wouldn’t be much different. That was why he hated death in the first place.

So what if this world seemed to be in great trouble? So what if the hope of changing it was almost nonexistent? Reid would simply do everything he could to change it and see the results at the very end of the path— even his life. Whether it was a good or bad end wasn’t something he needed to think about much at the moment. To keep on living. That's what he should think about.

"Let’s talk about it as we leave this place," Elihai suggested instead. "At least you can get familiar with the city where you’ll be staying."

"...Alright," Reid stood up from where he had been lying.

“Follow me,” he said.

With Elihai leading— accompanied by Atronia and Isetra on either side— Reid followed closely behind.

He realized that aside from his clothes, he had nothing else on him. I can utilize my Authority, but I don’t know how to access it in the first place.

The four of them arrived at a wide staircase in an unlit area. Reid seemed to have special vision allowing him to see through the darkness. Why couldn’t I see it before? He hides his frown. Is there some sort of rule in the sarchophagus-like object that limits my abilities?

Of course, as a gamer, he was familiar with RPG themes, especially those set in medieval times with swords and magic. He assumed similar elements here.

The stairs looked old and worn but didn't seem dangerous to step on. At the top was a door that Reid couldn't decide if it was wood or metal. Two torches flanked it. They quickly reached the door. Elihai placed his right palm on an unremarkable spot on the door and muttered, "Open."

"The souls sacrificed for your arrival were either criminals or volunteers," Isetra explained suddenly as the door parted to both sides. Reid squinted as Isetra chuckled lightly. "Aumanas Ilruna, the soul of the fallen elf you're in, tried to summon you directly in the Kirwell Forest, his home when a Skylight appeared. This world is undergoing an apocalyptic night, by the way. The sun, or stars, I forget. They don’t give us light. I doubt they even exist, at least not as close as people in your world say."

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Reid understood immediately, reminding himself that he was indeed on another world.

Black Moon is a fortress city. As such, its layout is designed to adapt to combat flexibility.

It was situated at the base of towering mountains.

High walls surround the city.

From what Reid could see, the buildings inside were constructed for practicality, meeting only the bare essentials. Mostly made of stone and wood. The structures were colorless and generally single-story.

The first thing Reid noticed was the pervasive darkness with no torchlight to pierce it.

The sky over Black Moon was covered with thick clouds, blocking out any starlight. Reid could only see a large, dark, round object with bright edges, like a solar eclipse. The atmosphere fostered a sense of despair.

They emerged from an underground chamber into what looked like the city center.

Nearby, there was a spring and a statue of a woman with one hand on her chest and the other reaching for the sky, her head tilted upward with a serene expression. Her long, wavy hair flowed beautifully.

“She is the Celestial Wanderer,” Atronia, walking beside Reid, said with a gentle expression. “She guides us, and our light in this lightless world. You should serve her well.”

Reid remained silent.

A few residents near the spring looked at the group with mild curiosity. The three leaders drew more attention than him, though.

The residents wore somewhat worn but clean clothes, quite different from those on Earth.

Reid also noticed non-human races among the inhabitants.

"I’m sure you still have a lot of questions," Elihai said. "Unfortunately, I can't tell you much. At the very least, Atronia and I couldn’t spare you much time. The chance to summon your soul to this world came only at the last minute, and we couldn’t arrange the post-procedures smoothly."

Reid wasn't bothered by that. "From Isetra’s wordings, this elf situation was a bit odd."

Atronia frowned slightly.

"Indeed. The fallen elf seemed to be in a dying state and close to losing his identity when we encountered him. For unknown reasons, he knows the method of soul summoning via the Celestial Wanderer."

"What we know about fallen elves is just the surface," Elihai sighed. "We know they lose all their Authority powers and that a higher Authority changes their powers into something sinister, but we don’t know exactly how they become fallen or which Authority specifically affects them. The Eclipsed Monarch might be the puppeteer... but also might not be."

Authority is the right to influence a specific domain, exert power, create rules for one’s benefit, command others (if there are any) to follow them, etc.

Not everyone possesses Authority. Its origin is still a mystery. One of the known method to obtain it is by passing a trial given by Authorities of Divine, the highest level of Authority known to the Black Moon's people.

There are also Authority of Sacred, Sovereign, Noble, and Guardian or Sage. These are rough levels defined by the Black Moon and can be divided into more categories, but let’s save that for later.

Acquiring Authority from the Sacred, Sovereign, and even Noble levels is possible, but they’re understandably of lesser quality than the Authority of Divine.

Elves are believed to have Authority over forests from birth. They might worship some form of Authority, but no one knows what or who it is.

Their Authority generally relates to Nature Affinity and Restoration.

Honestly, Reid was confused about how a forest could exist without sunlight in the first place. He didn't know the exact details, but he knew that the sun and plants had an essential relationship, where if the sun disappeared, plants would likely go extinct.

"West of Black Moon is Kirwell Forest," Elihai explained as they walked through what seemed to be a residential district. "The Valshir Mountains are to the east. The Grey River flows at the foot of the Valshir Mountains— just in front of Black Moon’s gates— running from south to north, with its source and mouth unknown."

Reid observed the faces of the inhabitants.

Most of them appeared to close to emotionless. It was as though they were resigned to their circumstances.

"The Ruined Saints plan to go past Kirwell Forest," Isetra interrupted casually. "Oh, the Ruined Saints are members of Highdawn. They’re volunteers, including people like you from another world. They’re different from the Grim Crusaders, who operate as an army. The Ruined Saints prioritize individual skills more, or teamwork and emotional understanding among each other. The Grim Crusaders don’t quite do that, see?"

In short, they were like adventurers from those cliché fantasy stories.

Only their calling was different.

Reid easily processed all the information. He didn’t feel overloaded and could organize it all smoothly in his head.

He took a deep, quiet breath.

First of all, I died somehow, then my soul was summoned to this world by chance.

Events similar to this aren't unusual. They’ve done this before, relying on divine-like power, specifically the so-called Celestial Wanderer.

They were asking for help from people from another world... or other worlds? These people don't seem like they're from Earth...

“Why rely on people from another world?”

Reid realized that that question still hadn’t been answered.